Russell Brown

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syzhang28
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Russell Brown

Post by syzhang28 »

There's been a lot of negative talk about Valiant over the past couple of years. I saw in another thread that Fred Pierce and Robert Meyers were mentioned as being there before the DMG period and still being at Valiant now. Wanted to point out that Russell Brown is the other person who was there before and is still there. He was at Marvel too. :clap:

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

syzhang28 wrote:There's been a lot of negative talk about Valiant over the past couple of years. I saw in another thread that Fred Pierce and Robert Meyers were mentioned as being there before the DMG period and still being at Valiant now. Wanted to point out that Russell Brown is the other person who was there before and is still there. He was at Marvel too. :clap:
Russ was our primary contact for our Shadowman and Doctor Mirage music. He's a wonderful human and all around mensch. Peter Stern has been there for a long time too.

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

So, funny timing...

Russ Brown announced that Friday November 8th was his last day at Valiant.

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syzhang28
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Re: Russell Brown

Post by syzhang28 »

GammaJosh wrote:So, funny timing...

Russ Brown announced that Friday November 8th was his last day at Valiant.
Is that a joke because of Mel? Where did you see that?? :?

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by agent_graves »

GammaJosh wrote:So, funny timing...

Russ Brown announced that Friday November 8th was his last day at Valiant.
facepalm :?
#StayValiant

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GammaJosh
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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

Not a joke unfortunately. I haven't seen it publicly yet, but he emailed the news to his contacts (including me) on Friday.

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by syzhang28 »

GammaJosh wrote:Not a joke unfortunately. I haven't seen it publicly yet, but he emailed the news to his contacts (including me) on Friday.
This is so sad. I wonder how many others have quietly walked away and we assume they are still there...

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

syzhang28 wrote:
GammaJosh wrote:Not a joke unfortunately. I haven't seen it publicly yet, but he emailed the news to his contacts (including me) on Friday.
This is so sad. I wonder how many others have quietly walked away and we assume they are still there...
I hear he got an amazing opportunity somewhere. I'll post here if I get wind of where he went. I wouldn't necessarily assume he left because things aren't looking good. He ran licensing for Marvel and Martha Stewart in the past, so he's probably on a very short list of people that would be in demand to run licensing at big entertainment companies. On the other hand, the Valiant brand hasn't been worth much as a license during his tenure, and it does seem weird that he would leave right before their first movie hits and ostensibly increases the value of their IP for prospective licensees.

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by BugsySig »

I saw an article on him leaving on bleeding cool I think. I don’t remember the name of the company he is going to, though.
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Re: Russell Brown

Post by BugsySig »

Here it is:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/11/14 ... nds-group/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Russell Brown

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

Mel getting pushed out really bothers me. I'm glad he landed with Netflix, but being pushed out in such a cowardly way, just one more reason to not like Mintz guess
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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

TheeBaldMoose wrote:Mel getting pushed out really bothers me. I'm glad he landed with Netflix, but being pushed out in such a cowardly way, just one more reason to not like Mintz guess
How was he pushed out? Is this public knowledge?

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by Oxmyx »

GammaJ, I'm fairly new around here...but, you sound like somebody who works with some of these VEI guys? You mind letting me know how you're involved? I'm just curious. I knew there were some company people who pop onto this website.
I've been looking everywhere for the ultra-rare Turok vs Blister issue. Anybody able to help me out?

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by nycjadie »

GammaJosh wrote:
syzhang28 wrote:
GammaJosh wrote:Not a joke unfortunately. I haven't seen it publicly yet, but he emailed the news to his contacts (including me) on Friday.
This is so sad. I wonder how many others have quietly walked away and we assume they are still there...
I hear he got an amazing opportunity somewhere. I'll post here if I get wind of where he went. I wouldn't necessarily assume he left because things aren't looking good. He ran licensing for Marvel and Martha Stewart in the past, so he's probably on a very short list of people that would be in demand to run licensing at big entertainment companies. On the other hand, the Valiant brand hasn't been worth much as a license during his tenure, and it does seem weird that he would leave right before their first movie hits and ostensibly increases the value of their IP for prospective licensees.
I heard that a lot from my last role as a reason why people leave. 99% of the time, people leave for an amazing if not better role. The primary reason, by far, why people leave their current job is because of poor management. By far, far, far. I'm not saying that's the reason for this departure, or of VEI in general, but this is just a statistical fact, if you believe studies on this topic. I raise this because it hits a particular nerve with me, as people tend to spin (both themeselves and the departing company) that the departure was for this amazing opportunity. Smart people wait to depart fo the better opportunity. Others do not.

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

Well, as it turns out Russ left for a job with a conglomerate that manages a bunch of household names including Sports Illustrated, Shaquille O'neil, Elvis, Tapout, etc. Considering Valiant is very far from a household name, I'd call this a step up and not necessarily reflective of the situation at Valiant. I'm guessing this move involved a hefty raise.

https://www.authenticbrandsgroup.com/

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by GammaJosh »

Oxmyx wrote:GammaJ, I'm fairly new around here...but, you sound like somebody who works with some of these VEI guys? You mind letting me know how you're involved? I'm just curious. I knew there were some company people who pop onto this website.
I'm in A Sound of Thunder, the band that did the Shadowman album. We've also continued to do some other smaller projects with Valiant since then, including retailer variants and one-off songs. We're actually putting out a song about Rai tomorrow.

I don't work for Valiant or represent them in any way. I've known several people in the office since 2013, but in reality I only see them at conventions so probably don't know any of them better than some other fans might. I just happen to know that they've been super nice, they care about the comics they put out, and they are not evil aliens brought in by DMG to ruin anyone's childhood, so I get a little annoyed when people disparage them.

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Re: Russell Brown

Post by Ramses818 »

I wish Russ well on his new job.


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